​We strongly deplore the “Unite the Right” rally planned for the National Mall on Aug. 12. The organizers are hate-mongers peddling a disgraceful agenda of anti-Semitism, racism and homophobia.
 
While the National Park Service has given preliminary approval for the gathering, it has not yet granted the organizers a permit. We respect the First Amendment implications of the Park Service’s dilemma. Most forms of hate speech are constitutionally protected. But there are grave security considerations that must be taken into account when groups like this incite hatred and mob violence.
 
At the Charlottesville rally that this gathering is intended to commemorate, protester Heather Heyer died when a neo-Nazi drove his car into her. Violent clashes took place in the streets of Charlottesville that day, resulting in more than 30 injuries. More recently, Jason Kessler, the organizer of the upcoming rally, was banned from the University of Virginia campus after he threatened students.
 
For these reasons, we are concerned about the very real threat of violence erupting on the Mall should the rally occur. We therefore call on the Park Service to withhold a permit. But if the rally does take place, the Park Service must adopt a serious and thorough security plan so that the events of Charlottesville one year ago are not repeated in the nation’s capital. The public must be protected.

​The United States’ decision to withdraw from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) presents the international organization with an important opportunity for dramatic and urgently needed reform, as the steady politicization of the body has rendered it largely irrelevant at best and a destructive actor at worst.
 
In May, even after passing predictable and one-sided judgment in advance, the UNHRC voted to again “investigate” Israel for defending itself from violent rioters at, and terrorists attempting to overrun, the Gaza border. Israel has a fundamental right and obligation to defend its civilians, and it has done so with exceptional care and restraint. For its part, Hamas, the fanatic Islamist group that controls Gaza, has repeatedly been caught lying about Palestinian actions and casualties. Yet even Hamas, which openly pledges Israel’s destruction, could not help but acknowledge that the vast majority of recent casualties were operatives of the jihadist group.
 
Israel, the world’s only Jewish state and the only democracy in the Middle East, is the only country subjected to a separate, permanent agenda item at the UNHRC, which targets it for more condemnation and punishment than any other country on the planet. In a chilling echo of historic boycotts of Jews, the UNHRC has also singled out for a “blacklist” Israeli and other companies doing business — often to the benefit of ordinary Palestinians — in Jewish communities in Palestinian-claimed areas that sit at the very heart of Jews’ ancestral homeland.

Perhaps the U.S. withdrawal from the UNHRC will serve as a wake-up call for all U.N. agencies to begin a process of systemic reform, in order to return the organization to its original mission and principles of equity and fairness.
 
In October 2017, the United States also withdrew from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which Palestinians exploited to deny Jews’ connection to their single holiest places in Jerusalem. That politicization has brought UNESCO to the point of acute crisis.

B’nai B’rith, which has a dedicated Office of U.N. Affairs, with representation at the world body’s headquarters in New York, UNESCO in Paris and the Human Rights Council in Geneva, has long fought against an anti-Israel bias that has continually sapped the U.N. of its credibility as a genuine contributor to peace and security.

Praises U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley for Pursuing Denunciation of Hamas

​B’nai B’rith International condemns the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) for singling out Israel in a one-sided draft resolution that blames Israel for defending itself during weeks of Palestinian rioting and attacks at the Gaza border.
 
On June 1, a similar resolution failed at the United Nations Security Council. This predictable ritual of exploiting the General Assembly — and the United Nations as a whole — to focus solely on excoriating Israel is outrageous and inexcusable. Israel has been targeted more than any other country. Meanwhile, the UNGA has consistently failed to target Hamas terrorists and make clear their instigation and responsibility for the situation at hand.

The global community must acknowledge that Hamas and Islamic Jihad are the true threat to Israeli and Palestinian lives alike. The open objective of these fanatic groups is the destruction of Israel and murder of Israelis. Accordingly, Hamas and Islamic Jihad have directed countless rocket attacks, shootings and now even incendiary kite attacks at Israeli civilians and service members.
 
United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley deserves strong praise for demanding that the UNGA denounce Hamas by name and insist that the terrorist organization abstain from all further violence.
 
Israel completely and unconditionally withdrew from the Gaza Strip well over a decade ago — only to be subjected to yet more indiscriminate terror and incitement from Hamas and other terrorists in Gaza. Israel has a fundamental right and obligation to defend its civilians and its borders, as any country would, and it has done so with exceptional care and restraint. Hamas, for its part, has repeatedly been caught lying about Palestinian actions and casualties. The UNGA, following the agitation of the Palestinians and their near-automatic majority of supporters at the U.N., must stop maligning Israel but rather support it in its efforts to combat those who are doctrinally committed to preventing peace and coexistence.

​B’nai B’rith International is pleased to announce Dr. Jonathan B. Perlin, president, clinical services and chief medical officer at HCA Healthcare, as the recipient of the 2018 National Healthcare Award, which has recognized exceptional trailblazers in the health care industry for more than 30 years. A gala award dinner will be held in his honor on June 14 at the Ritz-Carlton in Washington, D.C.

For more than three decades, B’nai B’rith has underscored the outstanding work of health care leaders and corporations that established the standards for health and education initiatives. The benchmarks implemented by these renowned experts have improved the lives of so many people and communities around the world.
 
“Dr. Jonathan Perlin has been instrumental in advancing health care, as he advocated for implementing electronic health records to connect and improve patient care across the nation. B’nai B’rith and I are very proud to honor Jonathan with this award,” B’nai B’rith International President Gary P. Saltzman said.
 
Perlin has served as the president, clinical services and chief medical officer of Nashville-based HCA Healthcare, Inc. since 2006, where he provides leadership for clinical services and improving performance at 178 hospitals and approximately 1,800 sites of care, including surgery centers, freestanding ERs, urgent care centers and physician clinics, in 20 states and the United Kingdom.
 
Before joining HCA, Perlin was Under Secretary for Health in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate, as the senior-most physician in the Federal Government and Chief Executive Officer of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Perlin led the nation’s largest integrated health system.
 
Broadly published in health care quality and transformation and recipient of numerous awards, Perlin is recognized perennially as one of the most influential physician executives and health leaders in the United States. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, the current chair of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs Special Medical Advisory Group, a member of the Congressional Budget Office Panel of Health Advisors, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) and serves on the boards of the National Quality Forum, Digital Reasoning and Meharry Medical College, one of the nation’s oldest and largest historically black academic health science centers.
 
Perlin was the 2015 chairman of the American Hospital Association and inaugural chair of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Health IT Standards Committee. He has served on numerous other boards and commissions, including the Joint Commission and the National Patient Safety Foundation.
 
“Between his time at HCA Healthcare and his work with the Veterans Health Administration, it’s quite an honor to bestow this prestigious award upon Jonathan. His work with our nation’s veterans is incredible, and his dedication and passion for the health care industry is inspiring,” B’nai B’rith International CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin said.

​The recipients of the B’nai B’rith National Healthcare Award have shown a history of dedicated leadership and outstanding civic involvement in the health care field and in the broader community. Award winners support philanthropic causes benefiting health, youth, seniors and education programs.
 
To learn more about the HCA Healthcare, visit https://hcahealthcare.com/.
 
Click here to learn more about Perlin’s distinguished career.   

B’nai B’rith International President Gary P. Saltzman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have issued the following statement:  
 
B´nai B´rith International continues to be outraged by the successful elevation of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement into the world of sports. The reverberations of Argentina’s cancellation of the match between its national team and an Israeli soccer team are still being felt.
 
It is an affront to the nature of sports competition that the Argentine national soccer team and their families have faced threats of violence in order to gain the cancellation of the friendly game between Argentina and Israel. Sports can serve as a platform for unity and therefore, it’s particularly unfortunate that this soccer match, between two soccer-loving nations, has been politicized. Cancelling the match sends the wrong message.
 
The use of violent threats to players and families, the public burning of equipment of a national team and the call to other violent actions is the method terrorists use to succeed in their goals through fear and harassment.
 
B´nai B´rith International hopes that in the future the soccer teams of Argentina and Israel will be able to play a friendly game in Israel and show that terrorism must be faced and defeated.

​B’nai B’rith International President Gary P. Saltzman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have issued the following statement:
 
B’nai B’rith International is tapping its Disaster Relief Fund to help the victims of Guatemala’s Fuego Volcano that decimated the village of El Rodeo. A mix of lava, volcanic gas, rock and ash sped down the mountain more than a week ago at hundreds of miles an hour, trapping residents in cars at they tried to flee and in homes as they sought shelter.
 
To date, the June 3 eruption has killed at least 110 people and some 200 are missing. Recovery operations are continuing.
 
The B’nai B’rith Disaster and Emergency Relief Fund is committed to supporting the efforts of IsraAID. This donation will fund an emergency response team on the ground that is bringing its expertise in emergency assistance and providing a comprehensive needs-assessment of the impact on the population. B’nai B’rith is proud to be one of the founders of IsraAID. B’nai B’rith has also been in touch with the local Jewish community to find out more about its involvement assisting those in need. 
 
We need your financial support to ensure that funds are available for this disaster response.
 
B’nai B’rith has a tradition of helping communities in distress, which began in 1865 in pre-state Israel when we raised funds to aid victims of a cholera outbreak. Since then, B’nai B’rith has helped countless people across the globe who have faced adversity after natural and man-made disasters.  
 
Donate here to our Disaster Relief Fund: https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/bbi-disaster-relief
 
Donors can also call 800-573-9057 to make a credit card contribution over the phone. Or can send a check payable to the B’nai B’rith Disaster Relief Fund to:
 
​B’nai B’rith International
Disaster Relief Fund
1120 20th Street NW, Suite 300N
Washington, D.C. 20036

​B’nai B’rith International President Gary P. Saltzman and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin have issued the following statement:  
 
The General Assembly of B'nai B'rith France elected Philippe Meyer as president of B'nai B'rith France. Meyer formerly served as vice president. He succeeds Serge Dahan, who is now president of B’nai B’rith Europe.
 
In the current context of threats and worries surrounding the French Jewish community and the French society, B'nai B'rith France – with about 60 Lodges – has a major role to play, through its history, values and messages. Meyer notes: “Our commitment to the political and societal struggles against the enemies of the Jewish community and the enemies of Israel will be the priority of our action, alongside the natural axes of B'nai B'rith which are culture, memory and solidarity. To carry out these fights, our solidarity and commitment with B’nai B’rith Europe and B’nai B’rith International will be total in the fraternity and the respect of our common values.”
 
We congratulate Philippe and look forward to working together.

Teen Writing Contest Rewards Stories About Tolerance and Inclusion
​
Students from School Without Walls and Duke Ellington School of the Arts won a college scholarship for their creative and insightful book advocating tolerance and diversity.
 
The winner of this year’s Diverse Minds Writing Challenge in the Washington, D.C.-metro area is “To Draw the World,” written by Mary Isabel Mejía Roberts, a student at School Without Walls and illustrated by Pablo Javier Echevarria, a student from Duke Ellington School of the Arts. Diverse Minds is a scholarship contest where high school students write and illustrate children’s books to help elementary school children celebrate and appreciate tolerance and diversity.
 
Mejía Roberts and Echevarria were announced as the winners at an awards ceremony at the Pepco Edison Place Gallery on June 6.
 
This education and awareness initiative was created as part of B’nai B’rith programming that promotes tolerance and communicates a message of equality among all citizens. Funded by Pepco, the contest aims to enlighten, inspire and educate America's young people and their families in an effort to eradicate prejudices and strengthen ties among today’s youth.  
 
The inspiration behind “To Draw the World” stemmed from Mejía Roberts and Echevarria’s passion to increase awareness of the diversity within Latin America and other countries. The author’s enthusiasm to capture worldly themes comes from her own travels and experiences living in various countries. By showcasing children around the world in their book, the author and illustrator hope that all forms of media will be more inclusive of those underrepresented in traditional media.
 
“The message of the book is that though people are different, that's not bad. Differences should be celebrated, and not isolated,” Mejía Roberts and Echevarria said.
 
The finalists and winners were congratulated by Bruce Pascal, B’nai B’rith International past senior vice president, Dave Velazquez, president and CEO of Pepco Holdings, and Donna Cooper, region president of Pepco.
 
“Through programs such as the Diverse Minds Writing Challenge, we can begin discussions about tolerance in our schools, our homes and our communities in hopes that the dialogue will spread throughout the country and the world. A key factor to a more tolerant society is access to higher education… And so it is only appropriate that the prizes for this program are college scholarships,” Pascal said.
 
“We are inspired by the ingenuity and compassion of these talented students and their important messages focusing on diversity and inclusion,” said Dave Velazquez, president and CEO of Pepco Holdings. “Each year, our partnership with B’nai B’rith gives us the wonderful opportunity to showcase how our youth are spreading the message of diversity and inclusion through their own personal lenses and we are always impressed and energized by the messages, themes, and courage they share through their books.” 
 
At the award ceremony, award-winning author Leah Henderson addressed the finalists and gave an inspiring speech on how diversity, tolerance, acceptance and inclusion can only come about by seeing other's possibilities, and that “to have true diversity...other people must be able to see your possibilities as well.”

By placing first, Mejía Roberts and Echevarria will share a $5,000 college scholarship, and their book, which was written in both Spanish and English, has been professionally published. The book will be distributed to local schools, libraries and community organizations, as well as to the annual TODAY Show Holiday Toy and Gift Drive. The book also will be accessible in an e-book format and will be available on iTunes and Amazon as a free download.

Second place winner Kaniz Fatema, also from Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, D.C. wrote and illustrated “Nothing Strange About a Name” and received a $2,000 scholarship.

Third place winner Joy Anderson from St. John’s College High School in Washington, D.C. wrote and illustrated “The Star of the Show” and received a $1,000 scholarship.

In addition, the teacher who advised Mejía Roberts and Echevarria, Rachel Blessing, received a $1,000 grant to use for classroom or organizational materials. School Without Walls and Duke Ellington School of the Arts will split a $500 grant. 

A diverse panel of judges from the worlds of education, the arts, business and government, along with B’nai B’rith International leaders, reviewed the submissions and selected the winners. Judges this year included: Daniel S. Mariaschin, CEO of B’nai B’rith International; Carolyn Parkhurst, author; Ari Z. Brooks, executive director of Friends of the Library in Montgomery County, Maryland; and Lissa Rosenthal-Yoffe, executive director of the DC Arts & Humanities Education Collaborative.

Since the contest began in the 2006-2007 school year, B’nai B’rith has now published 41 original children’s books, in two different languages (English and Spanish), awarded more than $330,000 in college scholarships and grants and donated more than 45,000 books to public schools, libraries and community organizations across the country.
 
Pepco began sponsoring the D.C. Diverse Minds Writing Challenge

Atlantic City Electric and Delmarva Power also held contests this week for students in South Jersey and the Delmarva Peninsula. This is the fifth year they have participated in the Diverse Minds Writing Challenge.

Elliot Abrams, Former U.S Deputy National Security Advisor in Keynote to B'nai B'rith World Center Journalism Award Ceremony in Jerusalem

Elliot Abrams, former U.S Deputy National Security Advisor and Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at Council on Foreign Relations in Washington D.C. delivered the keynote address at B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem Award for Journalism Recognizing Excellence in Diaspora Reportage on: “Israel and American Jews: A Portrait at 70.”
 
Speaking at a packed hall, Abrams said: “Your first obligation to world Jewry is to survive and to thrive. But then what? Beyond security issues, to ask the question again: What does it mean to be the center of world Jewish life? What are your goals and what are your responsibilities toward those smaller communities — some of them of course physically safe, as in Canada or Australia or the U.S., and others, from Sweden to France to Argentina, for example, far less safe? You exist as a haven with a law of return. But that is the beginning and not the end, surely, of Israel’s role in the lives of Jewish communities around the world.”
 
Yair Sherki, Religious Affairs reporter for Israel News Company and winner of the award for broadcast media said in his acceptance speech: “Orthodoxy in America — which constitutes seven to 10 percent of U.S. Jewry — has been ignored in the conversation taking place in Israel on Israel-Diaspora relations. This is the group that is growing at the greatest rate among American Jews and the only group that enjoys positive growth and therefore its importance will grow over time…The encounter with such a different type of Jewish lifestyle intensified the experience for me and even strengthened my own religious identity; this is true for my encounters with the Haredim and regarding encounters with other Jewish streams in the United States, and I hope that this impression was conveyed to my viewers.”
 
Amotz Asa-El, senior editor for the Jerusalem Report and winner for print media said: “The new [Jewish] dispersion — that which will dwarf in the shadow of the growing Israel center — will demand an innovative approach by the State of Israel. Israel will have to nurture this new dispersion, not only as a strategic source but also as an engine for co-existence between the Jewish People and all of humanity; co-existence that will prove to Israelis that 'A people who dwells alone' is not a predestination and definitely not an ideal.”
 
A Certificate of Merit in memory of Luis and Trudi Schydlowsky was conferred on Benny Teitelbaum, Jewish World correspondent at the Israel Public Broadcasting Corporation (Kan). He noted that: “Consistent coverage of world Jewry raises questions about the unity of the Jewish people, what our connection to them is all about, what does it mean to be Jewish, why are they important — all kind of questions that the secular Tel Aviv press does not like to ask itself.”
 
Since its establishment in 1992, the B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem Award for Journalism has recognized excellence in reporting on contemporary Diaspora Jewish communities and on the state of Israel-Diaspora relations in the Israeli print, broadcast and online media. The award is widely recognized as the most prestigious prize in the Israeli media industry for Diaspora reportage and was established to help strengthen the relations between Israel and the Diaspora by encouraging quality reporting on Diaspora communities and Israel-Diaspora relations.
 
The distinguished members of the award jury are: professor Yehudit Auerbach, School of Communications, Bar Ilan University; professor Sergio DellaPergola, the Institute of Contemporary Jewry, Hebrew University; Ambassador Sallai Meridor, international chairman, Jerusalem Foundation, former Israeli ambassador to the United States, former chairman of the Zionist Executive and Jewish Agency; professor Gabriela Shalev, Higher Academic Council, Ono Academic College and former Israel ambassador to the U.N.; Yair Sheleg, columnist; and Asher Weill, publisher and editor of ARIEL-The Israel Review of Arts and Letters from 1981-2003.
 
The B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem Award for Journalism Recognizing Excellence in Diaspora Reportage is named for the late Wolf Matsdorf and his wife Hilda. Wolf was an editor of the World Center’s journal “Leadership Briefing” and a journalist in Israel and Australia. Hilda was a pioneer in social work in both Australia and Israel. The award is made possible through donations from the Matsdorf family and B’nai B’rith World Center-Jerusalem board member Daniel Schydlowsky.
 
For further information please contact Alan Schneider, Director, B’nai B’rith World Center, Jerusalem at 972-52-5536441.

Teen Writing Contest Rewards Stories About Tolerance with College Scholarships

​An Ocean City High School student won a college scholarship for her creative and insightful book advocating tolerance and diversity.
 
The winner of this year’s Diverse Minds Writing Challenge in southern New Jersey is “Outside the Box,” written and illustrated by Marley Goudie from Ocean City High School in Ocean City, New Jersey. In the Diverse Minds contest, high school students write and illustrate children’s books to help elementary school children celebrate and appreciate tolerance and diversity. Goudie was announced as the winner at an award ceremony at Atlantic City Electric’s regional headquarters on June 5.
 
This education and awareness initiative was created as part of B’nai B’rith programming that promotes tolerance and communicates a message of equality among all citizens. Funded by Atlantic City Electric, the contest aims to enlighten, inspire and educate America's young people and their families in an effort to eradicate prejudices and strengthen ties among today’s youth.  
 
Goudie is compelled to advocate that youth’s interests not be imposed by traditional gender roles. She believes that whether it is with doll houses or Legos, children should be able to decide for themselves what they think is fun. Goudie believes children should be accepted no matter what choice they make in their toy options.
 
“Along with a diverse environment comes the need for tolerance and inclusion, and these ideas are oftentimes harder to embrace. So our efforts in recent years have been to underscore the importance of these pivotal concepts — particularly around bullying, diverse families and religious tolerance,” B’nai B’rith International Associate Executive Vice President Mark D. Olshan said at the event.
 
Susan Coan, Atlantic City Electric region vice president, discussed the significance of the program.  

“We are a proud supporter of this initiative that promotes tolerance and diversity, and reinforces our commitment to an inclusive and diverse workforce,” Coan said. “We are pleased to have the opportunity to partner with B’nai B’rith on this program that teaches young people the value and importance in celebrating equality.”

By placing first, Goudie won a $5,000 college scholarship and her book has been professionally published. It will be distributed to local schools, libraries and community organizations, as well as to the annual TODAY Show Holiday Toy and Gift Drive. Her book will also be accessible in an e-book format and will be available on iTunes and Amazon as a free download.

Second place winner Morgan J. Kersey from Woodbury Junior-Senior High School in Woodbury, New Jersey wrote and illustrated “Little Moments” and will receive a $2,000 scholarship. Third place winner Vincent Grossman from Lower Cape May Regional wrote and illustrated “Heath and His Monsters” and won a $1,000 scholarship. In addition, the teacher who advised Goudie, Paul Matusz, received a $1,000 grant to use for classroom or organizational materials. Ocean City High School received a $500 grant. 
​
Since the contest began in the 2006-2007 school year, B’nai B’rith has published 41 original children’s books, awarded more than $330,000 in college scholarships and grants and donated more than 45,000 books to public schools, libraries and community organizations across the country.

A diverse panel of judges from the worlds of education, the arts, business and government, along with B’nai B’rith International leaders, reviewed the submissions and selected the winners. Judges this year included Olshan; Coan; Eric Scheffler, sheriff of Atlantic County; Albert B. Kelly, mayor of the city of Bridgeton; and Joann Gattinelli, mayor of Washington Township, New Jersey.
 
Delmarva Power and Pepco also held contests this week for students in the Delmarva Peninsula  and in Washington D.C. This is the fifth year Delmarva power, and sixth year Pepco has participated in the Diverse Minds Writing Challenge.